| Test Summary | |
| Wet Braking |
Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R |
| Dry Braking |
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 |
| Rolling Resistance |
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo Pirelli P Zero PZ4 |
| Noise |
Pirelli P Zero PZ4 |
| Snow Handling |
Toyo Proxes Sport |
Road VS Trackday Tires
The Toyota GT86 isn't the most powerful of cars, with the 2 litre NA engine producing just 197 bhp. This means the car won't take advantage of the higher grip levels of semi slicks as much as a more powerful heavy car, but the increase in performance was still noticeable.
The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire was the fastest semi slick in the dry lapping the handling course with an average speed of 87.1 km/h, an average of 2 km/h faster than the Michelin Pilot Sport 4.
Dry braking is a key advantage for track day tires, which have a softer compound and less tread pattern to increase the tires contact patch with the road. The Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R proved best in this test, stopping the Toyota in 32.8 meters, where the road Pirelli P Zero took a further 2.4 meters, stopping the car in 35.2 meters. The biggest surprise of the dry braking test wasn't the advantage of the semi slick tires, but that the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 matched the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, both stopping the car in 34.4 meters, an impressive result for the road bias Michelin.
Wet testing brings the advantage back to the road tires. All three semi slick tires finished at the bottom of the wet handling and aquaplaning tests, with the Michelin track day tire proving to be the most useful in the tests. Still not a tire we'd want to fit for year round use in the UK.
The wet braking tests reversed the dry braking tests, with the test winning Toyo Proxes Sport stopping the GT86 in 32 meters from 80 km/h, where the Toyo R888R track day tire took a further 2.5 meters, stopping in 34.5 meters.
The comfort, noise and rolling resistance tests were again dominated by the road tires, with the track day tires giving up noise and comfort for increased steering precision and speed.
The Results
Please note, due to limitations in our database, we've had to group the track day and "normal" tires together in the overall results. In the magazine they were rated separate, but they did undergo the same tests.
